In Delhi on Friday to promote their upcoming film, Aarakshan, five young boys — Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Manoj Bajpai, Prateik Babbar, and filmmaker Prakash Jha — shared nuggets from their student life, which happened to be in different decades. Their film may be on caste-based reservations for students, but there was no reservation, or hesitation, when it came to telling us what made their college life rock.

Q: Whose poster was on the wall of every guy’s hostel room when you were in college?Amitabh Bachchan: Marilyn Monroe, of course. She was very popular when I passed college in 1962. But hey, I didn’t have any girl’s poster on MY wall. Others did.Saif Ali Khan: Yasmin Le Bon, the British model. I did school in London and boy, she was hot.Prakash Jha: Madhubala, without a doubt. I later replaced her poster with Meena Kumari’s. Manoj Bajpai: (Shyly) Madhuri Dixit. (Everyone else goes awww).Prateik Babbar: Too embarassed to say ... Pamela Anderson.

Q: Describe your college life in one word.Amitabh: Independent. It meant so much to be on our own, when I entered college in 1959. Saif: Amorous, I would say. It was that kind of age.Prakash: Opening up. College life was like a window to the world for us at that time.Manoj: Drama. I was heavily into theatre when I was a college student in Delhi. All that I could think was acting in plays. Prateik: (long pause), Confusion, I guess. We just didn’t know what we were doing at that time. It’s still the same, actually.

Q: What was the hottest cause among students in college?Amitabh: There was no cause, really. We were too busy leading the fun life when I was in Delhi’s Kirori Mal College.Saif: Girls? No, seriously, the very high income tax in UK.Prakash: The Naxal movement had just taken off and all the politically inclined students could only talk about that in my college (Ramjas College, North Campus).Manoj: The rise of Ajay Maken, who is now the sports minister, was the hottest talking point among students in my time.Prateik: Hmmmmm...

Q: Where would one find you when you were bunking a class?Amitabh: The Sheila cinema. It had just opened and was the biggest craze. I was always found there when not in class.Saif: At the movies. No, wait, hanging out with the girls!Prakash: We would sit in the college canteen with friends or watch a movie whenever we bunked a class. Manoj: Catching a film with friends was the usual thing, apart from, of course, my theatre practice in Hindu College, although I was a student in Ramjas College. Prateik: Hmm...not sure!

Q: What was the one fashion statement all guys sported?Amitabh: JEANS. Just owning a pair of jeans was such a luxury. When I got my first pair of Wrangler jeans, which was among the first few available brands, I wore them every single day for five years.Saif: The latest denims. Prakash: Bell bottoms and long hair. That was the coolest thing in the ‘70s. I, too, had long hair and wore bell bottom pants. Manoj: Imported denims that we would get from Nepal. Prateik: Tattoos... and yeah, piercing.